infections | Common News Update

Apr82021 by adminNo Comments

Covid: UK vaccine rollout ‘breaking link’ between infections and death

Health

Getty ImagesIncreasingly strong evidence shows that the UK's vaccination programme is breaking the link between Covid-19 cases and deaths, scientists tracking the epidemic have said. A study found infections had fallen by roughly two-thirds since February, before beginning to level off.This is probably because people are beginning to mix more - but deaths have not followed the same pattern.This was not the case before January, when the vaccine rollout began. The research, commissioned by the government and run by Imperial College London, is based on swabs taken from 140,000 people selected to represent England's population.Of that group, who were tested for the virus between 11 and 30 March, 227 had a positive result, giving a rate of 0.2%, or one in 500 people.But in people over the age o...

Apr72021 by adminNo Comments

Iran sets new record for virus infections amid holiday surge

Health

Iran has shattered its daily record for new coronavirus infections for the second consecutive day, with 20,954 new cases reported on WednesdayByThe Associated PressApril 7, 2021, 10:00 AM• 1 min readTEHRAN, Iran -- Iran has shattered its daily record for new coronavirus infections for the second consecutive day, with 20,954 new cases reported on Wednesday.The country is in the midst of one of the most severe surges of the coronavirus to date, following a two-week public holiday for Nowruz, the Persian New Year, which drove millions to travel to vacation spots across the country and congregate in homes in defiance of government health guidelines.For months, Iran has struggled to curb the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the Middle East. Wednesday's case count brought the total number of...

Dec82020 by adminNo Comments

Scientific breakthrough in monitoring COVID-19 infections through wastewater

Technology

Scientists have achieved a breakthrough in sampling wastewater to detect changes in COVID-19 infections within large communities.The new method is capable of identifying the coronavirus within wastewater samples and tracking whether infection rates are growing or shrinking. Wastewater is a "robust source" of COVID-19, according to researchers, because infected people shed the virus in their stool, meaning large amounts of virus particles are flushed down the toilet. "This work confirms that trends in concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater tracks with trends of new COVID-19 infections in the community," said Professor Alexandria Boehm, of Stanford University."Wastewater data complements the data from clinical testing and may provide additional insight into COVID-19 infections wi...

Nov302020 by adminNo Comments

England sees 30% drop in new COVID-19 infections amid lockdowns

Health

Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Recent lockdown restrictions imposed in England to reduce the spread of COVID-19 appear to be working, with a 30% drop in new infections over the past month, according to research released Monday by Imperial College London. Since the implementation of new protocols -- including business closures and limits on public gatherings -- based on local infection rates earlier in November, the country has seen its new coronavirus reproduction, or R, number fall to 0.88, the data showed. Advertisement The R number measures how many people infected with the virus spread it to others, so lower figures suggest reduced transmission, the researchers said. Although it is not among the official statistics used to track the epidemic, the R number for some parts of the United States may be ...

Oct162020 by adminNo Comments

Coronavirus infections still rising rapidly

Health

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